Speech Evaluation

Yes, it seems silly to have a therapist evaluate Justin's speech given that he is not anywhere close to speaking, but at this age it is more about feeding techniques. We wanted to ensure that we are using proper techniques so that Justin uses the correct muscles which he will later use for speaking. I learned a whole lot actually. The therapist said that when we are born we have an arched palate that eventually lowers and flattens out as we move our tongues and babble as infants. Because of the low muscle tone in DS babies, that doesn't always happen, which then causes difficulty speaking. Justin, however, has a very good palate, comparatively. She wants us to work on flattening it out some more. And she showed me some about how to feed Justin with the spoon sideways on his lower lip to cause his upper lip to curl over to take the food off the spoon. She also gave us some passive exercises to stretch his lip and cheek muscles. And we have been doing well in some things: We are using a shallow spoon to feed him, we brush his teeth (gums) to get that sensory experience, and she likes the bumbo seat I have been using to feed him since he cannot sit up by himself. He can hold himself very straight and he has good posture. She told us just to skip the bottle and go straight to cup drinking. (I think she couldn't do it either and decided it wasn't worth her time since he is as old as he is.) He is not supposed to have a sippy cup because it still encourages the suckling movement rather than the sucking/pursed lip movement. He can use a cup when he can sit up by himself, but we will have to hold it for a while. She even gave him a veggie stick, like a chip, for him to crunch on the side of him mouth to get the up and down movement going, but he wasn't all that fond of it. He did really well the whole time. We had to go to a different office other than the one that is close to our house, so she won't be our therapist, but she was really helpful and explained so much to me! She also pointed out something that I hadn't noticed: Because of Justin's low muscle tone, his mouth hangs open, and his tongue hangs out, BUT right after he eats, he does a really good job of holding it closed. She said that after his muscles are worked, he has more control. It doesn't last for very long, but that is what we want to develop. This is all just what I took for the session. I am still learning the lingo and starting to get some understanding. It will be a long road, but we're in it for the long haul, so we'll see where it takes us!